Welcome - my name is Kevin Klinkenberg, and this site "The Messy City" is my blog and company website. I started blogging on urban planning and design issues in 2007, and began working in the field in 1993. Please feel free to connect with me on any of the social media sites listed here. Thanks for reading.

Apr 3 Bike sharing - good for your health, too

Beantown physicians have started offering poor patients $5 memberships to the Hubway bikesharing program, which normally costs $85 a year. It’s called Prescribe-a-Bike, and the goal is to help reduce obesity. Writes Streetsblog:

The program is being administered by Boston Medical Center in partnership with the city of Boston. Qualifying patients will have access to Hubway’s 1,100 bikes at 130 locations. Participants will also receive a free helmet …

Local officials hope the program will result in about 1,000 additional memberships.

Only about 14 percent of Hubway bike-share stations are in low-income neighborhoods — a grand total of 13 — but hopefully that’ll change if Prescribe-a-Bike catches on.

For many planners and designers, this book will challenge your thinking. Glaeser is an economist, and approaches issues of cities first and foremost from that standpoint. I found it very enlightening in many aspects (especially for global cities that I'm less familiar with) and would highly recommend the book. Glaeser makes a great case for the economic importance of cities, and also for more market-based approaches to planning for development.

Never Miss a Post Again

Email Address

Thank you for signing up. My goal is to add value to your time and efforts with this site. If I’m not meeting those expectations, please let me know.

Kevin

House plans from 180 Urban Design and Architecture - now available at Allison Ramsey Architects. Click here to see the portfolio and purchase.